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Blackberry to launch new Z3 in UAE, Saudi next month

Canadian mobile handset maker says it will be available in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait later this summer

By Andy Sambidge

Sat 28 Jun 2014 01:39 AM

BlackBerry Limited has announced that it will launch the new BlackBerry Z3 smartphone in the Middle East next month.

The Canda-based mobile communications giant said the new smartphone is expected to be available in the UAE and Saudi Arabia in July.

The company added that the Z3 will also be made available in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait later this summer.

It added that the BlackBerry Z3 can now be pre-ordered in the UAE through the BlackBerry Store in the Dubai Mall. Consumers who purchase a BlackBerry Z3 smartphone in July can benefit from an exclusive app offer, a statement said.

The statement added that the BlackBerry Z3 will extend the BlackBerry 10 platform to a "new generation of customers in the Middle East and offers them more ways to connect, share and be productive with an experience built on reliable, secure communications".

The BlackBerry Z3 features a 5” touch display, new messaging and typing experience, and a longer battery life, the company said.

Earlier this year, BlackBerry's CEO John Chen said it will seek to "win back some lost ground" following the launch of new smartphones.

The handset maker has seen global marketshare dwindle in the face of Apple's iPhone and smartphones based on Google's Android software.

Last week, it was reported that the iPhone 5 has led a surge of smartphone registrations in the UAE this year as new figures show 52 percent of new handsets now fall into this category.

The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said the number of smartphones registered to the UAE’s networks increased by 10 percent in 2013, with a further one percent jump in Q1.